Street sign



June 23, 1931. w, POWERS 1,811,594

STREETSIGN Filed Feb. 26. 1930 {3 I WM Boll/6W5 Patented June 23, 1931 UNITED starts PATENT met WILLIAM M. POWERS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO POWERS SIGN 00., v INC., OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA STREET SIGN Application filed February26, 1930. Serial No. 431,504.

' This invention aims to provide a simple means whereby astreet marker or other sign maybe illuminated by external light, thereby rendering it unnecessary to have an elec tric lamp or other source of light within the light box.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described havinga shiftable reflector, novel means being provided for adjusting the position of the reflector.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and .to enhance the utility of devices of that sort to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes may be made in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows in front elevation, a device constructed in accordance-with the invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevation;

Figure 3 is a section on the'line 3-3 of Figure 1; I I

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the shaft that operates the reflector.

In carrying out the invention, there is provided a casing, which, preferably, is made of opaque metal. The casing includes a bottom 1 provided at its forward edge with a trough-shaped guide 2. A front 3 is connected to the bottom 1 and is disposed at right angles to the bottom. The forward edge of the top 4 is connected to the upper to the body portion of the casing, the ends having flanges 8 that are extended inwardly along the back 5, the ends having flanges 9 that are extended inwardly along the bottom 1.

Lips 10 are struck inwardly, as shown at 11, from the ends (Sand 7, a short distance below the top 4. Figs 12 are struck inwardly, as shown at 14, and are located a short distance to the rear of thefront 3. In the front 3 there is a rectangular opening 15, the outline of which can be seen in Figure 1. In the top 4 there is a similarly shaped opening 16, with this difference, that the said opening 16 is extended down wardly and: rearwardly through the rear edge of thetop 4,as.the extreme righthand portion of Figure 3 will show. The side members of the top 3, however, arebent downwardly to form; short fingers 17 that are joined to a flange 18 that projects outwardly along the entire upper edge of the back 5. a

A transparentpane 19 covers the opening 16 in the top 4, and is held against upward movement by the top, the pane being held against downward movement by'the lips 10. The rear edge of the pane 19 is prevented from sliding rearwardly' by means of the fingers 17, the rear edge of the pane 19 resting on the flange 18 of the back 5.

A panel 20 is mounted at its lower edge original color .of the panel and possess its transparency or translucency.

. haft 23 is mounted for rocking movement in the ends 6 and 7 of the casing, and is disposed closely adjacent to the inner wall 29 of the trough-shaped guide 2. The shaft 23 has an intermediate crank 24, which may be of the loop-shaped form of Figure 5, the crank being disposed inside the casing.

Externally of the casing, the shaft 28 has an operating handle 25 that has resiliency enough so that it can be engaged in any of a plurality of seats 26 in an arcuate keeper 27 secured to the end 6. A reflector 28 is disposed within the casing and has its lower edge mounted in the angle formed by the crank 24 and the inner wall 29 of the guide 2. The reflector 28 may be a mirror, and it is not secured in any way either to the crank 2%, or to the wall 29 of the guide 2, the reflector-simply being laid in place on the crank, as shown in Figure 8, with the lower edge of the reflector engaged with the wall 29 of the guide 2.

Light from any external source enters the top of the casing through the transparent pane 19 and is reflected by the member 28 through the characters 22 on the panel 20, the characters being illuminated without the use of a source of light within the casing. Because the back 5 is arranged at an obtuse angle to the bottom 1, more light is admitted through the top of the casing than would be possible otherwise. The reason, or one of the reasons, for giving the top 4 and the pane 19 a downward and rearward slant is that when four of the devices shown in Figure 1, or even two or more of them, are placed about a lamp post, the light proceeding from the lamp post will have a better chance to get into the casing than it would if the backs 4 and 19 were parallel to the bottom 1.

The operator can spring the handle 25 out of engagement with the seats 26 in the keeper 27 and rotate the shaft 23, the crank 24 changing the angle of the reflector 28 with respect to the lettered panel 20, and when the desired angle has been attained,'the handle 25 may be permitted to spring again into one of the seats 26 of the keeper 27.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described a casing having a top through which light can pass, the casing having a sign on its front, a shaft journaled in the casing and having a crank, a reflector so disposed in i the casing as to receive light from the top of the casing and reflect the light through the sign, the reflector resting on the crank and having its lower edge in loose abutment with a portion of the front, and means for holding the shaft in adjusted positions.

2. In a device of the class described, a casing having a top through which light can pass, the casing having a sign on its front, a shaft mounted to rock in the casing and provided with a reflector so disposed in the casing as to receive light from the top of the casing and reflect light through the sign, and means accessible from without .the casing for rotating the shaft and for holding the shaft in adjusted positions.

3. In a device of the class described, a casing having a top through which light can pass, the casing having a sign on its front, a shaft mounted to rock in the cas ing, means for operating the shaft from a point without the casing, and a reflector carried by the shaft, the shaft being rotatable to dispose the reflector indifferent positions with respect to the top and the front of the casing.

l. In a device of the class described, a casing having a top through which light can pass, the casing having a bottom guide, a sign in the guide, a shaft mounted to rock in the casing and having a crank, and a reflector supported on the crank and held on the crank by a portion of the guide, the reflector being so disposed in the casing as to receive light from the top of the casing and reflect the light through the sign.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aliiXed my signature.

WILLIAM M. POWERS. 

